i54 HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 



As no otters were to be seen near the shore we sought 

 the rougher water a few miles out, but the tide-rip was very 

 dangerous, besides making accurate shooting very difficult. 

 Standing up on the thwart of a little cockle-shell of a boat 

 which was pitching and tossing in all directions is not 

 exactly conducive to good shooting, especially as the otter 

 when hard pressed or much hunted invariably made for the 

 most turbulent water he could find. 



We got back at five o'clock to find the schooner, although 

 unanchored, in almost exactly the place where we had left 

 her. 



This was fortunate, as the fog had by this time settled 

 like a pall upon us. In thirty fathoms of water, with the 

 roar of the tide-rip on one quarter and the thunder of the 

 great Pacific rollers on the other, our position was not a 

 pleasant one. While the senst: of helplessness so charac- 

 teristic of these dense, opaque fogs accentuated the feeling 

 of insecurity. Fortunately, before it got dark a slight breeze 

 sprang up, sufficient to enable us to run in close to the big 

 hollow rock and anchor in seventeen fathoms. 



It was nine o'clock next day before the boats got away, 

 and, taking an easterly course, we rowed about half-way up 

 to Gull Island. We saw eleven otters altogether; but, on 

 account of the thick atmosphere, were never able to see 

 more than fifty yards ahead. Nor, of course, could we see 

 each other, but being a dead calm could occasionally hear 

 the sound of the oars. We managed to get two otters and 

 a pup. 



We spent the next two days under a pall of dense fog, 

 cleaning and airing the skins already stretched, "leaning" 

 others, and overhauling ropes and rigging, it being quite 

 impossible to leave the schooner. 



